<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>Ca</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">P</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>and other topological semimetals with line nodes and drumhead surface states

Abstract

Topological nodal line semimetals exhibit protected one-dimensional Fermi lines, which arise due to an intricate interplay between the symmetry and topology of the electronic wave functions. In this paper, the authors derive the $\mathbb{Z}$ invariants that guarantee the stability of the line nodes in the bulk under reflection symmetry and show that a quantized Berry phase (i.e, a ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ invariant) leads to the appearance of protected surfaces states, which take the shape of a drumhead. Most importantly, a relation between the $\mathbb{Z}$ invariant, which characterizes the bulk, and the quantized Berry phase is derived. This relation is generally applicable to any topological nodal line semimetal with or without spin-orbit coupling. Moreover, it is shown that the Berry phase invariant can be simply obtained by computing the reflection parity eigenvalues. As a representative example of a topological nodal line semimetal, the authors examine Ca${}_{3}$P${}_{2}$, which has been identified as an ideal system with the line nodes at the Fermi energy. Using numerical calculations, they show that the drumhead surface state of Ca${}_{3}$P${}_{2}$ has a rather weak dispersion, which implies that correlation effects are enhanced at the surface.